Stephin Merritt lives at the very edge of being too prolific for his own good. This guy has written hundreds of songs in the past decade. Half of his career has produced more music than the full run of whole bands. This guy has so much going on that he divides it all among an expanding list of semi-independent projects. While the lion's share of Merritt's music is under the Magnetic Fields listing, there's plenty of surprisingly good work with his various side projects, including The 6th's, The Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. I say it's surprisingly good both because there's so much of it (and quantity usually precludes quality in art) and because most of those side projects are a mix of high concept and vanity. The key to Merritt's success with all of these additional pursuits is a well-formed sense of humor and a willingness to defer to the talents of other musicians when the need arises. The following is a hopelessly incomplete sampler of Stephin Merritt's non-MF music. It's not so much a Condensed article as it is an appetizer.
The Gothic Archies
One of Merritt's many friends in the strange world of semi-fringe pop culture is a peculiar fellow named David Handler. Most of us know him better as Lemony Snicket, the author of the delightfully morbid A Series of Unfortunate Events books. Handler (or Snicket) is also an accomplished accordion player. Together with Merritt, they formed The Gothic Archies, a tongue-in-foundation-caked-cheek goth rock band.
There's a shelf somewhere in Stephin Merritt's home where he displays his collection of pop culture cred. In a prominent place he has proof that the music of The Gothic Archies found its way into The Adventures of Pete and Pete, possibly the strangest, most original program ever featured on Nickelodeon.
When taking on something as wildly theatrical as Gothic music, especially on a larf, it's important to know what to take seriously. Merritt respects the musical style and themes of Goth without going whole-hog about the image. Basically, all of the good with none of the bad.
Even if he usually embraces the gloom of Goth, Stephin Merritt can't help but make an atypically sunny pop song when the opportunity presents itself.
Future Bible Heroes
Future Bible Heroes is barely a different band from The Magnetic Fields. It's still Merritt as songwriter and Claudia Gonson on vocals. The only major departure is in the style of synth. It's more disco/dance based than the indie-style synth of MF.
Further proof of overlap. It sounds like a Pet Shop Boys song, but it's a vaguely Gothy track with funny lyrics.
I can't really say that The Magnetic Fields make happy music, but the real down-in-the-dumps stuff is reserved for FBH.
A lot of Future Bible Heroes sounds like a shameless throwback to 80's dance pop, not that there's anything wrong with that. What I really wanted for this slot, though, was their cover of "Love is Blue", but alas, I could not find a link. For all of his unique songwriting, I really wish Merritt and company would do more cover songs.
The 6th's
If 69 Love Songs is a concept album, then The 6th's are a concept band. Not a very high concept, mind you, but a concept none the less. But for one or two exceptions, Stephin Merritt doesn't sing any of The 6th's songs. Instead, he calls in favors from a wide range of musicians, many from the independent scene, to lend their pipes to a fitting project. Merritt jokes that The 6th's are a tribute band he created to himself, but really it's just an exercise of Merritt minus Merritt's voice.
If you remember The Squirrel Nut Zippers, you were undoubtedly born in the 80's and watched enough VH1 in the 90's to catch the most bizarre end of the mercifully short swing revival. It's not exactly fair to lump in SNZ with the likes of Cherry Poppin' Daddies and The Brian Setzer Orchestra. For one, they weren't concerned with the sounds of the 40's and 50's. Their angle was more like the 20's. The old-timey vocals of SNZ's female singer, Katherine Whalen, have limited appeal in modern pop, but they seem to do just fine in this 6th's track.
Momus, aka Nick Currie, has a fairly distinctive personality. He's one of them upstart postmodern artists. Still, he can't help but channel Stephin Merritt's ironic, vulnerable cadence in this sweet, sad song.
You wanna talk cred and respect in the music world? The guy singing this slow-dance ballad is none other than Bob Mould of the seminal punk band Husker Du. Maybe that's the real intention behind The 6th's. Let's take some of the most posturing elements of pop music, namely punk and indie, and show everyone that these people are really just entertainers in the end who are willing to sing a plinky nothing about traditional romance.
One Last Bit
Stephin Merritt did the soundtrack for the movie Pieces of April. I've never seen the movie, so I don't know if it's worth watching it just to hear Merritt's music surrounded by actors. What I do know is that this one original track for the movie is one of my favorite things Merritt has ever recorded.
I feel like I've written exhaustively about the work of Stephin Merritt despite the fact that I've barely even touch The Magnetic Fields. As I said before, that will have to wait for a future entry. Think of this Condensed feature as being the big picture before the close focus. I'll be back next week, either with The Magnetic Fields or with a new artist. Until then, listen well.
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